Police: Parkland bus driver dead at crash into township building

Kelly Smith, 42, may have had medical problem before Upper Macungie accident.

A Parkland School District bus driver who careened out of control across Schantz Road and into the Upper Macungie Township municipal building Monday morning was ejected from the vehicle and found dead at the scene to the rear of the bus, police said.

No students were aboard the bus.

The driver was 42-year-old Kelly E. Smith, a veteran bus driver for the district, said Parkland Superintendent Louise Donohue in a message to parents via email, phone and district website. There is speculation that a medical incident may have occurred prior to or during the accident, she said.

Authorities have not yet released a cause of death.

The Lehigh County Coroner's Office and the Berks Lehigh Regional Police Department are investigating.

Police spokesman Peter Nickischer said he was in the department's substation next to the municipal building around 8 a.m. when he "heard a loud crash and the lights flickered."

He said someone from the township building ran to his office to tell him a school bus had hit their building, and he "rushed over on foot." Nickischer said an adult female was found deceased to the rear of the bus, and she was identified as the driver.

Nickischer said the bus driver had been driving west on Schantz Road and for unknown reasons veered into oncoming traffic, striking an eastbound Ford Taurus and then traveling up a small embankment into the municipal building wall facing Schantz Road. At some point, Nickischer said the bus driver was ejected from the vehicle. The driver of the Ford Taurus was not injured. The car, which had severe front-end damage, had to be towed.

The bus crashed in the office of township Supervisor Sam Ashmar, who wasn't in the building at the time of the crash.

The township building is closed today and Monday night's planning commission workshop was cancelled, Ashmar said. Township officials said they hope to reopen the building in at least a limited capacity on Tuesday.

Val Strock, garage foreman for Parkland, said the accident happened as Smith was about to begin her run for Jaindl Elementary School after already dropping students at Parkland High School.

Donohue said Smith had been a bus driver for 12 years, and her mother, Carol, and brother, Matt, also are Parkland bus drivers.

"It's a very tragic day here in the Parkland School District," Donohue said in an interview. "It's a sad and shocking event and our hearts and prayers go out to her family."

Police have closed Schantz Road between intersection of Grim Road and Nestle Way and Bridgestone Drive. It is expected to be closed for an extended period for the investigation.

Township officials said they had a structural engineer examine the building before removing the bus around noon, which left a gaping hole in the building.

"It's not a call anyone wants to receive, that a school bus was involved in accident," Ashmar said. "We're just lucky when it pushed through the building no one was outside of the office in the hallway."

There have been reports of traffic congestion in the area of Schantz Road and Route 100. For current traffic information visit LehighValleyTraffic.com.http://www.lehighvalleytraffic.com/large-map/